Automatic starter for internal combustion engines



March 16, 1937. Q GRUENBERGER 2,074,110

AUTOMATIC STARTER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Jan. 28, 1955 Z5 Z5 Gm uen'bargear INVLNTQ ATTO r w .Esps

Patented Mar. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIQ'E AUTOMATIC STARTER FOR INTERNAL COIVIBUSTION ENGINES 4 Claims.

My invention relates to starters for internal combustion engines and the like, and has for its principal object the provision of a new and improved. starter of this type.

Another object is the provision of a starter utilizing toothed gears, in which meshing of the teeth is facilitated.

A further object is the provision of a starter utilizing toothed gears, in which jamming of the teeth, causing stoppage of the gears, is prevented. Other objects will appear hereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds.

The novel features of my invention will appear from this specification, and the accompanying 15 drawing forming a part of this specification, and showing one embodiment thereof, and all these novel features are intended to be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is an elevational perspective view of one embodiment of my invention, illustrating it applied to an internal combustion engine fragmentarily shown, and

Figure 2 is a view, with certain parts fragmentarily shown, of the embodiment shown in Figure 1, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section along the line 11-11 of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, there is here shown a starting motor I, desirablyelectrical, adapted to drive the crank shaft of an engine through a gear 3, here shown as associated with the fly-wheel 2 of the engine, and a pinion 4 mounted'on the shaft 5 of the motor (see Figure 2).

The motor I is here shown as pivotally mounted and to this end the motor housing may, be provided with a pair of spaced lugs 6, I. The lugs 6, l are adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of a lug 9, and a pivot. bolt 8 passes through apertures in the lugs 6, 1, and 9. The lug 9 is here shown as carried by a plate II] which may be suitably attached, by screws, two of which ll, I2 are shown, to the engine block I3.

In order to. avoid binding strains on the pivot bolt 8, or undesired displacement of the motor axis, the motor housing maybe provided with a lug I4 adapted to be snugly but slidably disposed between two spaced lugs, one of which I5 is shown. The logs I5 may be provided on the mounting plate I0.

In order to yieldingly maintain the motor I in the position. shown in the drawing, resilient means may be provided, here shown as a pair of springs l6, I'l, one end of each spring being attached to the plate I0 and the other to the motor housing, by screws I8, I9 respectively.

The motor shaft 5 has a sleeve 20 provided thereon and fixedly attached thereto by a screw 2I. The motor shaft also carries a collar 22, disposed at one end of the sleeve 20, which collar is rotatable on the shaft 5. Carried by the collar 22 is a screw 23 which is adapted to hold one end of a spring 24, disposed about the sleeve 20, the other end of the spring being held by the screw 2|. The collar 22 is formed on a threaded sleeve 25, rotatable about the shaft 5, which terminates at the end opposite from the collar 22 in ,a collar 26, which limits movement of the screw threaded sleeve 25 toward the motor I, movement in the other direction being limited by the sleeve 20.

The pinion 4 is internally screw threaded to cooperate, as a nut, with the screw 25, and is providedwith a flange 27, cut away at its upper portion, or in some other manner formed so that the lower portion is heavier than the upper portion.

The fly-wheel 2 is here shown as provided with a housing 28, suitably fastened as by bolts 29 to the engine block I3. The housing 28 is provided with an axial opening 30 through which the motor shaft 5 extends. The opening 3!! may, if desired, be provided with'a closure 3 I, which may be 7 of some flexible material, having a collar portion 32 and a radial extending flange portion 33, the collar 32 being adapted to fit over a boss 34 surrounding the shaft 5 and extending from the motor housing, and the flange 33 being of sufficient extent to cover the opening 30.

In the position of the parts shown in the drawing the motor shaft extends parallel tothe axis of the gear 3, and at such a distance from that axis so that movement of the pinion 4 to the right, as viewed in Figure 2, will cause meshing of the teeth of the pinion 3 and of the gear 3. Normally, the motor is retained in the hereinbefore stated position by means of the springs IS, IT.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows. When energy is supplied to the starting motor I, the shaft 5 rotates, and since the pinion 4 is so weighted that it tends to maintain its position about its axis, rotation of the screw 25 causes the pinion 4 to move toward the right, the teeth of the pinion meshing with the teeth of the gear until the pinion strikes the collar 26. Thereupon rotation of the motor shaft rotates the pinion 4 in the same direction as the shaft 5, by transmission of force through the spring 24. The gear 3 is thereby rotated to start the engine. Such operation takes place when there is proper alignment as between the motor shaft and the gear 3, and there is proper meshing of the teeth of the gear 3 and the pinion 4 as the pinion moves toward the right into engagement with the gear 3, and when no broken teeth exist on either the gear 3 or the pinion 4.

If there should be any broken teeth on either the gear 3 or the pinion 4, it very often occurs, that as the motor rotates the pinion, a whole tooth on the pinion will ride onto the top of a broken tooth on the gear, or a broken tooth on the pinion will ride onto the top of a whole tooth on the gear. This developes a force tending to force the gear and pinion apart, and usually results in jamming the gear and pinion together so that neither one can rotate. In some instances it is necessary to remove the starting motor in order to separate the gear and pinion. However, with my invention such jamming cannot occur because the motor is so mounted that when the teeth tend to jam, the force tending to move the pinion 4 radially away from the gear 3 causes the motor to swing about the pivot 8, against the bias of the springs l 6, l7, thereby permitting further relative rotation of the pinion and gear, which usually results in meshing of teeth on the gear and pinion, which are either not broken or in sufficiently good condition so that the pinion may drive the gear.

The springs IS, IT, are of course selected of suificient strength so that any normal force tending to force the pinion away from the gear 3 due to the meshing of normal unbroken teeth, will not result in any yielding of the springs I6, l1, and therefore no yielding, away from the gear 3, of the pinion 4.

My invention also facilitates meshing of normal teeth on the pinion and gear, since if the pinion happens to be rotating just before it engages the gear 3, the pinion 4 may yield radially, thereby minimizing breakage of teeth on the gear or pinion.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the herein disclosed embodiment of my invention provides a new and improved starter for internal combusition engines, and accordingly accomplishes at least the principal object of my invention.

It also will be obvious to those skilled in the art that my invention maybe embodied in other constructions wherein the mounting for the shaft for driving the pinion may assume a variety of forms, variously changed and modified within the spirit of the invention.

In general it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the features of my invention may be individually changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing all of the advantages thereof, and accordingly that the disclosure herein is illustrative only, and that my invention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for starting a rotary machine of the type of an internal combustion engine having a gear adapted to drive the engine, comprising:

a driving pinion for driving the gear; a drive shaft; means mounting said pinion on said shaft whereby said pinion is movable longitudinally with respect to its axis from a position out of engagement with the gear into a position in engagement with the gear; means whereby said drive shaft is adapted to cause rotation of said pinion; and means mounting said shaft so that said pinion is movable away from the gear in a direction generally radially of the latter upon overload.

2. Apparatus for starting a rotary machine of the type of an internal combustion engine having a gear adapted to drive the engine, comprising: a driving pinion for driving the gear; an electric motor having a drive shaft; means mounting said pinion on said shaft whereby said pinion is movable longitudinally with respect to its axis from a position out of engagement with the gear into a position in engagement with the gear; means whereby said drive shaft is adapted to cause rotation of said pinion; and means mounting said electric motor so that said pinion is movable away from the gear in a direction generally radially of the latter upon overload.

3. Apparatus for starting a rotary machine of the type of an internal combustion engine having a gear adapted to drive the engine, comprising: a driving pinion for driving the gear; an electric motor having a drive shaft; means mounting said pinion on said shaft whereby said pinion is movable longitudinally with respect to its axis from a position out of engagement with the gear into a position in engagement with the gear; means whereby said drive shaft is adapted to cause rotation of said pinion; and means mounting said electric motor so that said pinion is yieldingly biased to a position where said longitudinal movement thereof will cause engagement between it and the gear and is movable against said bias away from the gear in a direction generally radially of the latter upon overload.

4. Apparatus for starting a rotary machine of the type of an internal combustion engine having a gear adapted to drive the engine, comprising: a driving pinion for driving the gear; an electric motor having a drive shaft; means mounting said pinion on said shaft whereby rotation of said shaft is adapted to cause said pinion to move bodily longitudinally with respect to its axis from a position out of engagement with the gear into a position in engagement with the gear; means whereby said drive shaft is adapted to cause rotation of said pinion; and means mounting said electric motor so that said pinion is yieldingly biased to a position where said longitudinal movement thereof will cause engagement between it and the gear and is movable against said bias away from the gear in a direction generally radially of the latter upon overload.

OTTO GRUENBERGER. 

